The date of the origination of surfing is debated but the
Polynesians were the first to paddle out on wooden boards. Surfing was a central
part of Polynesian culture and the chief was always the most skilled surfer.
The ruling class had the best boards and the commoners were not allowed on the
same beaches. Residents of the Hawaiian Islands were also some of the first
surfers in history. The sport diffused to anywhere with swell, primarily to
Europe. Surprisingly, the coming of the 20th century saw a temporary
disappearance of the sport. Only a small amount of Hawaiians continued to
practice the sport and build boards to ride. There weren’t many formal rules of
the sport until competitions started to arise in the mid 1900’s. It was more of
a way of life up until then.
The
equipment has evolved tremendously throughout the development of surfing. The original
boards were made out of huge tree trunks, and surfers were restricted to using
only longboards. These later turned into shortboards, that are currently made
of styrofoam and polyglass. The sport was made popular by movements like the
Beach Boys and movies like The Endless
Summer. There was a change to big wave surfing in recent history and people now ride waves reaching 50+ ft in height. Surfers get towed into these waves by jetskis and it really is a site to see. Surfing has never really encountered any challenges except lack of
waves.
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